


A Dog's Bark

by orphan_account



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Good Peter, Identity Reveal, Irondad, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Social Media, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, eventual identity reveal, its very cute, might eventually turn into an identity reveal?, peter has a dog, spiderson, who knows haha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:55:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22142932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Peter was little, he only had one dream: having a dog. So when somehow he ends up with a puppy he knows can't be kept in the apartment, he takes it to the tower.He does what every other dog owner does normally: feed it, care for it, love it. And, of course, take tons of pictures and videos of the animal. After uploading some, they (somehow) go viral.However, he had forgotten a single important detail: all pet owners do the same. And apparently, he wasn't the only owner of the dog.Now, the whole internet is curious. Who is Peter Parker and why do he and Tony Stark have the exact same dog? Naturally, they have to fix things and explain themselves, before things get way out of hand.Or well, more out of hand than they already have.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Peter Parker, Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Pepper Potts, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 25
Kudos: 299





	1. a bit of background story.

**Author's Note:**

> it's my first time writing anything non-school related soo yeah, excuse me if anything is sheet (besides the plot lmao) and leave some criticism!! not a native english speaker so i'm sorry if i use some slang or expression in a way that doesn't make sense haha me no english am sorry

Peter loves being Spider-man. 

Even when he comes home bruised every night, sometimes with a bunch of bruises or a stab wound, on unlucky nights even having some broken bones. However, ever since he told May of his little spidey secret, the woman decided to become his personal nurse. (Obviously, he didn’t actually tell her. She found out when he entered his bedroom window, as Spider-man, without checking if she was home or not. So, she enters his bedroom, sees Spider-man take off his mask to reveal her nephew. To say the least, she wasn’t pleased. People began to think Spider-man had retired when he didn’t go out in two weeks, but it was simply because May decided it to be the appropriate punishment after almost two years of being kept in the dark.)  
However, as much as he loved her, he knew perfectly well that she had a mini heart attack every time he shows up with anything more serious than a bruise. He once showed up with a sprained wrist, and made the mistake of telling her how it happened because he blocked a blow directed to his chest. Afterwards, she kept panicking (“Peter! You could have been hit in the chest, which often leads to fractured ribs, which often lead to pulmonary contusions, which then lead to DEATH!”). Peter loved Aunt May to death, but if she kept it up, they’d both have grey hairs in less than five years. 

So, going to Aunt May when injured wasn’t the best option. Ned was, as they learned way too late, extremely squeamish at the sight of blood. (Long story short, Ned passed out as soon as Peter revealed the wound he needed help with.) MJ made it clear that if they knew how to count, not to count on her. (“I have seriously zero idea of how to patch someone up, zero medical knowledge, and zero desire to see you die because of an infected wound. Don’t be an idiot and tell May, she’s a nurse.)

So, that only left one option.

The first time he had showed up on Tony Stark’s penthouse window, the man had screamed bloody murder (even though he’ll throughly deny it.) Once he realized it was only Peter, the genius instructed Friday to open the window for him, thinking the kid was only visiting. However, as soon as he saw the wounds and bruises littering the boy’s body, he immediately called Dr. Cho. (Although Peter may or may have not collapsed not soon after, but thankfully and as always, Mr. Stark was there to catch him.) Peter had woken up on the couch, covered in bandages, with Star Wars playing in Mr. Stark’s huge television and supported on a pillow that suspiciously moved and smelled a lot like motor oil and some kind of expensive cologne. He didn’t have time to look up, as soon as the man felt Peter move, his hand automatically found its way into Peter’s curls and began playing with the boy’s hair, causing him to relax. Peter gave off a content sigh, and then proceeded to get the best sleep of his life.  
Obviously, the next morning he woke up on the couch with a blanket draped over him and the fluffiest pillow he’d ever slept on. (This time, it was an actual pillow, not a tired out genius.) He stretched over happily, until his little heaven was disturbed by a pillow being thrown at him. He grumbled, until Mr. Stark told him “Squirt, hurry up or you’ll be late for school.”  
As if he had been zapped, he took a quick look around the place to make sure he had forgotten nothing (Had he brought his backpack with him? The answer was no.) and once he made sure, he opened the window, yelled a quick “See you later, Mr. Stark!” and swung his way home.

He was pretty sure he had just set a personal record, so when he got home and found out it was actually Saturday, he was not amused. 

However, he was completely sure of one thing: he trusted Tony Stark with his life.

///

Even though Peter Parker was not a hundred percent human, his behavior was. He watched movies with Ned, talked with MJ, participated in Decathlon class, and said funny comments every once in a while. Sometimes, when he was in a good enough mood, he would even stand up to Flash (only verbally, of course.) Peter Parker was not a cool kid, but he wasn’t a typical outcast either. Except for the bit of spider DNA that roamed through his veins, he was an average teenage boy.

And like every teenage boy that has ever existed, he too, wanted a dog at some point. He remembers his parents taking him to some friend’s house. A friend who had a dog. Peter doesn’t remember much, he was very young, maybe five or six years old. He does not remember the dog’s breed or the friend’s name. He just remembers having a ton of fun. How couldn’t he? The dog was probably young, so it too, had a ton of energy. Put together an excited little kid and a very happy, young dog, and you have the perfect way of tiring them both out. At the end of the day, Peter fell asleep, and woke up in the car, without having been able to have said goodbye to his newest friend. His parents had promised him they’d take him to their friend’s house again, but sadly the plane crash happened not long after. 

The next times Peter interacted with dogs were all in the park, with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. When he was eight, they went to the park at least once a week. And every time, there were dogs roaming about. Peter absolutely loved them. He didn’t get close every time, but more often than not, his uncle saw his face and knew what he wanted better than even Peter did. With a chuckle, he’d approach the dog and their owner, and ask the person behind the leash if the dog bit (the universal sign for “can I pet your dog?”). By the time Ben had gotten an answer, however, Peter was already petting the dogs. Never did one dog bite him, (when he told MJ and Ned the story, MJ called him a liar. “There’s no way no dog has bitten you. Have you seen Chihuahuas? These little demons will bite anything and everything.”) however he never liked meeting dogs in the park because of how little time he got to spend with them. It was only a few pets and then goodbye.

(His favorite dog at the park was a Golden Retriever named Rosie whose owner was a kind old lady named Veronica. They always happened to meet, and once they saw each other more than three times, they actually introduced each other. Afterwards, Veronica would bring them all some home baked cookies, Peter would bring some treats for Rosie, and Ben and May would bring sandwiches for all of them (two for Peter because piece by piece, he always gave his to Rosie.) However, their encounters stopped after Veronica passed away, and Rosie was passed on to Tyson, Veronica’s son, and they moved to Washington.)

The next time Peter interacted with a dog was the first time he went to Ned’s house, when he was about ten. As soon as Ned opened the door to enter his house, vicious barking could be heard. Peter expected a lot of things, so when he entered, only to find a dog whose entire length from mouth to tail could be maximum the size of his forearm, he was very surprised. He immediately tried to pet the little vicious demon, ignoring Ms. Leed’s warnings. “Peter, be careful, Mr. Cuddles is a very old dog and he—“ Cue the sound of an enraged Chihuahua, a very surprised yelp, and Ned’s laughter. 

To say the least, Peter loved dogs. And most dogs (except stupid Mr. Cuddles) seemed to love him back.

So, obviously, it didn’t take a lot of time for Peter to ask Ben and May for a dog of his own. He was about thirteen, and still remembers their reactions when they asked what he’d like for his birthday and how their faces dropped when they heard what their nephew was asking for. 

“Peter… we.., uh… We can’t have a dog, bud.” His uncle had said. “Petey, honey, our house is too small for a doggy to be happy, baby.” May had told him. Peter looked up at her in confusion. “Dogs need to have a big space to be able to be happy, they need a lot of toys and special cares.” 

“I’m sure it’s no problem! I’ll take it to the park every day, I’ll play with it! I will be the best dog owner New York will ever see! I’ll save up my allowance to be able to buy toys for it, and take it to the vet.” His enthusiasm didn’t decrease through his explanation. However, it did when he saw how they didn’t seem as excited as him.

“You know what? Don’t worry, bud. I’ll begin to work extra hard, so we’ll be able to buy ourselves a house, with a lawn and a backyard. And as soon as we get that house, we’ll get our dog. We’ll be a family. Us three, and a dog.” Uncle Ben had said, smiling down at Peter and ruffling his hair. “How does that sound, champ?”

Peter hasn’t smiled that wide ever since.

Soon enough, it became a when, not an if. They kept making up perfect scenarios in their heads. “When we buy our new house…” they would all say. Ben always said he’d spend the day outside, looking at birds or bugs. May said she would take up planting, (“I've always wanted an avocado tree!” she would say.) and Peter fantasized all day long of his soon-to-be dog. What breed it would be, what they’d play. 

However, Ben’s death came true before their promises did. 

And of course, the only thing that made noise in the background of the scene of Uncle Ben bleeding out on the ground, was a dog’s bark.


	2. the day peter thought a dog to be a bomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter shows up at the tower. With a dog.

Tony Stark has seen and experienced a lot of things in life. His parents’ and Jarvis’s deaths, Afghanistan, becoming Iron Man, Obie betraying him, Hammer Industries, almost dying of palladium poisoning, carrying a nuke through a wormhole, yadda yadda. You know, average everyday stuff for a superhero. 

After all that, he should expect everything. He should be prepared for everything. Right?

He thought so too.

He really did. But then, Peter freaking Parker, Spider-man, shows up. In normal, civilian clothes, at about 10 PM, time in which he always was on patrol. A hoodie over which his Stark Industries ID card stood, and some worn-out jeans, plus—Jesus, why does the kid keep these converse? However, that isn’t the weirdest part. The weirdest part is that a) He’s soaking wet, and b) Peter entered through the main entrance. He raises an eyebrow at that, because hell, he made FRIDAY open windows automatically for him, because of how many times he refused to enter through the normal, main entrance. (He also refuses to do a lot of other things. Taking care of himself, calling him when he’s in trouble instead of barging in while Tony is working in something, and most importantly, calling him Tony instead of Mr. Stark.) It was a very stormy day outside, lightning and thunder, raining cats and dogs, maybe that was the reason as to why the kid decided to use the main entrance instead of the window? 

Peter seemed to not have seen Tony; he suspected it was because he wasn’t on the couch, where he usually was whenever he was in the living room. He was picking up some things next to the TV, where light didn’t quite reach at the moment. He carefully observed Peter from the shadows. The kid seemed to be looking around, and when he didn’t see Tony, he relaxed. The teen seemed to be cradling something close to his chest. Huh.

Tony forced himself to remain calm, as his— the kid seemed to reach under his hoodie, ready to grab whatever he was carrying. The man sucked in his breath in anticipation, watching closely. Was he going to pull out a beer? Some drugs? What was so bad that the kid thought he couldn’t trust Tony with?

However, all of his anticipation was thrown out of the window when Pepper entered the room, eyes busy on her Starkpad. She raised her sight to assess the room, and noticed Peter. 

“Oh, hey Pete. What are you doing here?” Pepper asked the boy. The door by which she had entered was placed exactly parallel to Tony’s position, which meant that although Peter was not able to see him, Pepper could. Since she didn’t know that Tony was staying out of Peter’s sight, she raised a perfect eyebrow at him and asked, “Tony? What are you doing?”

Tony cursed mentally as Peter, much like a deer caught in the headlights, turned to look at him. “Mr. Stark! I- um… Hey! It’s uhh… What ar… What are you doing here?”

“Peter. I live here.”

Pepper chuckled softly and Peter looked even more mortified.

“Well, y-yeah! But, um… y-you know how y—“ Whatever the kid was about to spout was cut off by a whine. A whine.

Both Tony and Pepper looked around, confused, looking for the source of the sound. Could it have been a cat outside? Wait, how would a cat even get this far up in the first place? Tony’s mind raced, trying to find an explanation as to what was happening. However, his searching was quickly stopped by a hand on his arm. He turned to look and found Pepper (how had she crossed the room that fast?), looking straight at Peter. So, he too, looked at Peter.

Peter, with a puppy dog in his hands, Parker.

“Can we please keep it?”

* * *

Peter’s day had been pretty chill. Nothing too weird, he’d gotten ready for school, eaten a banana that May had thrown at him but he caught (thanks to his spidey sense), walked to school with his earphones plugged in (although one ear didn’t work), and attended all of his classes at school. The highlight of his day had been Flash being annoying, as usual. (“Hey Penis! You look like shit!”) Afterwards, Happy picked him up and took him to his apartment. He did all of his homework in about thirty minutes, spent another thirty eating with May, and then began to prepare everything to go out patrolling. 

He put on his suit, put some a hoodie and a normal pair of pants over it, stuffed his mask in his hoodie’s pocket, and grabbed his web-shooters. He planted a kiss on May’s cheek as he walked out, chuckling as she exaggerated and tried to rub the kiss off.

“Be back by around 12! Larb you!”

He exited his apartment, and began walking towards an alley. He always tried to pick a different one, so that people wouldn’t always see Spider-man walking out of the very same one. He did the same when returning home.

His night began like many others: swing, ask Karen to pitch in to the police station’s radio. This time, since he began a bit earlier, there wasn’t a lot of activity right now.

“Hey Karen, what time is it?” He always brought a watch, but well he won’t be able to see it unless he takes his whole suit off, which kind of defeats the purpose. Plus, why should he, when he has an AI inside his suit?

“It is currently 7:23 PM, Peter.” The kind voice of Karen replied, interrupting the radio transmission. The police radio was quiet for a lot of time. It wasn’t long before he got bored, so he sat on the edge of a building and swung his feet. He tried counting cars, then counting only the red cars, then calculating the average number of people each car carried… It was undeniable; Peter was bored out of his mind. Almost as if she had read his mind, Karen spoke.

“Peter, how was your day today?” And just like that, he began to blurt his usual word vomit. 

They talked until 8:11, when Peter interrupted himself mid-sentence. He heard something, and without thinking it twice, swung his way to the commotion. 

There seemed to be about four men, all of them cornering a single woman. All of the men were wearing dark clothes, plus some kind of garb covering their face. The woman (who, now that he thought better of it was not a woman but a girl, she seemed young.) was sheltering her purse behind her, and was getting closer to the wall behind her.

“C’mon, beauty. Let us get a taste.”

“Pl-Please get away from me…” The girl seemed close to crying, and that was when Peter decided to make himself known. 

“Hey, hey, guys. I think we all heard her. She doesn’t want you any closer.” Immediately, all four men turned at him, and the girl began crying (from relief, Peter hoped.) As the attention was shifted from the girl to him, he prepared himself for a fight. Lo and behold, they charged at him, and Peter was quick to notice how they seemed to not have a lot of experience with fights. In record time, he had them all webbed up and unconscious. 

He turned to the girl, who still seemed to be crying. Peter frowned and tried to approach her. “Hey, hey, it’s all okay now,” Slowly, she seemed to calm down. She had stopped crying, only small sniffles escaping her body. “Would you like me to help you get home?” He asked her, thinking how if that were him, he wouldn’t be okay walking home alone after what had just happened. She softly nodded her head, voicing a small “My apartment is right next to this building, don’t worry.” 

Peter nodded and walked with her to the entrance of her apartment building. By the time they had gotten there (It really was next to the alley building!) she had completely calmed down, even smiling at the neighbors they passed by (it was still relatively early after all, only 9:30 PM)

Suddenly, she turned to look at him. “Hey, Spider-man. Do you like dogs?”

Peter’s eyes opened briefly in surprise. Was this how people nowadays flirted? He gave her a quick glance, and realized that she was probably older than him, by at least 5 or 6 years. What was he supposed to answer? Briefly, his mind flashed back to all of his previous experiences with dogs. His parents’ friend, Rosie, Mr. Cuddles (who sadly passed away 2 years ago), and Un—wait! The girl was still waiting for an answer. Peter seemed to have taken a lot of time, because she seemed to be regretting her question more and more.

“You know what, forget it, it’s stupid in the first pla—“ 

“Yes! I do like dogs.” Peter interrupted her before he even realized so himself. She seemed to look at him in surprise for a bit, before giving him a small smile. Peter smiled back at her.

“Wait here for a second, please.” She told him, then hurried upstairs. Peter’s mind began to work before he could stop himself. He had smiled at her before, hadn’t he? What an idiot, he thought. She wouldn’t have been able to notice if he smiled or not. Right? Gosh, he hadn’t even asked her what her name was, had he? Was she going to keep calling her girl? God, what if she wasn’t even a she? It’s plain 2020, people can be whatever and whoever they wa—

Peter tried to stop himself and his crazy thoughts by fidgeting a bit. He tapped his gloved fingers together, tried to do a little dance with his feet MJ taught him the other day, tried not to notice the looks people passing by kept giving him, because what was Spider-man doing in the middle of an apartment lobby?

Just as his mind began racing again, the girl came downstairs again. She seemed to be carrying something in between her arms. Peter wondered if he should accept whatever she was carrying. What if she was handing him a bomb?

Stop being ridiculous, he chastised himself. If it really was something dangerous, his spider-sense would have gone off. Right? He watched as Girl fixed whatever she was carrying. Covering up the bomb so that he wouldn’t see it?

Then, he watched in almost slow motion, as she grinned at him and handed him what appeared to be a small box, with no lid, but a small blanket covering it. Ohgodohgodohgodohgodit’seventickingandeverythingwhywouldyouacceptarandompacketfromarandomwomanyoujustsavedfrom--

Wait. What was he hearing?

Suddenly, he halted his every move and though, and observed in quiet shock as the girl handed him the box.

The box, which seemed to have a heartbeat. There was no denying it once he was this close to it. He held it in his arms, and slowly and quietly picked up a corner of the blanket, which then revealed what laid inside. 

A goddamn sleeping puppy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ' M S O R R Y  
> i didn't think it would have taken me so LONG to update :(( school was crazy, but I think that since we're all quarentined, y'all can expect a bit more updates sooner (hOPEFULLY, don't quote me on that)  
> please remember to leave some much appreciated kudos!! or comments! i freakin' love reading comments man, expect a tON of them on this story hehe  
> i love you guys! <3


	3. no means no (or does it?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony doesn't seem to be very fond of the puppy.

At first, Tony thought he was in some sort of fever dream. He tried rubbing his eyes, pinching himself, and sighed when they didn’t seem to work. So this was real, huh.

“Peter.” 

“I… I can explain!” The boy cried, holding the puppy close to his chest. 

“Please do.” Pepper asked. See, this was why they were engaged! That was his fiancé, goddammit.

“Okay, so hear me out, alright. I was doing my typical patrolling business, you know, thwip thwip. And suddenly, Karen told me there was a mugging somewhere near, so I went where she told me to, and I found this lady surrounded by 4 guys, and they didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, you know. So, I did my thing, thwipped them up, Karen called the police for me, and this lady was crying, so naturally I tried to comfort her for a bit, and she goes…” Peter stopped a bit by that point, as if he were thinking of something. However, after only a 2 second pause, he continued. 

“She tells me that she was scared, not for herself but for her purse! So I’m like, ‘okay, what’s happening? Whatcha got there?’ and she pulled out a puppy! Can you believe it? An entire, living, breathing, puppy! I didn’t know what to say, but I accepted it, because I don’t know if May has ever told you but I’ve always wanted a dog, but we were never able to have one because of obvious reasons. So blabla, she says she’s fine and that she can walk to her apartment on her own, I accept it and well my first thought was to get to my apartment, but then I remembered that we can’t have pets there, so I made my way here, and as I was waslkingitbeganrainingand--” He stopped, probably because he ran out of breath. (Tony would never understand how he managed to spew out words at such a hurried pace)

“Wait Peter, did you just say you walked from Queens to here?” Pepper asked him, shocked. Tony had to recognize that that was impressive. Queens was about 3 hours away on foot.

“Uh, y-- no? I… took a taxi?” Peter tried, almost wincing.

“Peter, I’m not mad, I’m actually impressed. How long did it take you?” She asked. 

“Oh! About an hour? I walked quickly and once it began raining I ran for a bit.” Peter explained. Darn. Tony realized that it’d been a while since the last time they’d ran tests on Peter’s stamina. The boy seemed to be as good as ever.

“Wait! Oh my god, I have to feed it!” The teen exclaimed, scaring the crap out of Tony who was still immersed in his thoughts. “According to Google, puppies should be fed two or three times a day. The girl gave me a small bag of food, I’ll go serve it real quick! I’ll be right back!” He then ran into the kitchen. Pepper and Tony exchanged looks, and Tony was surprised to find a fond look in Pepper’s face.

“Tony…” She began, and Tony knew that tone. It was the ‘I-know-I'll-be-choosing-the-right-choice-however-I’ll-still-let-you-have-the-final-decision’ tone. He hadn’t heard it in a long, long time. Not since she had stopped being his assistant.

“There’s no way in hell a freaking dog will be staying here, Pep.” He began. “Have you ever smelled one of those things? They’re stinky, loud, dirty, and clumsy. They keep you up all night, and sure they may be loyal but--” He noticed Pepper’s sly smirk, and stopped. 

“Did you just describe a dog, or yourself? You can also be all of those. Actually, I think you have about three of those characteristics.” She chuckled.

Tony gasped. “Did you just call me stinky?” He brought up his oil-stained MIT sweatshirt and smelled the collar. It didn’t smell bad. Right?

Pepper laughed that hearty laugh of hers that Tony knew and loved. Smiling, she gave him a quick kiss. “Let’s go check on Peter, god knows what he’s doing.” She began walking towards the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, they were greeted by a heart warming sight. Peter was laid out on the (very clean) floor, laughing and giggling as the small puppy was on top of him, nipping and licking his face, hoodie, and hands. The puppy was certainly no threat to Spider-Man, but the same could not be said for Peter Parker. The teen was laughing like Tony had never heard before, and the genius’s heart warmed at the sound. 

Peter however, seemed to have realized that he was no longer alone, as he stood up, still chuckling, and looked at the couple. He grabbed a random bowl he left on the counter, poured some dog food on it, and served it in front of the puppy. The dog immediately perked up and began eating it. While petting the dog’s back, Peter turned to look at them. 

“Peter, we…” Pepper began, but before she could finish, Tony cut her off.

“I want you to give it back.” Tony spoke before he could really think it through. Both Pepper and Peter turned to look at him. Both with frowns on their faces.

“But, Mr. Stark, I don’t know where the lady lives! I can’t just drop it off on the streets either, can I?” Peter said.

“Then take it to a shelter, or look around for the woman. We will not have a dog.” Tony insisted. He hated having this talk, not being able to give Peter what he wanted.

“Tony, it’s 11PM. You can’t expect shelters to be open this late, nor the woman to keep walking on the streets after what just happened to her.” Pepper tried to reason with him, too.

“If by tomorrow afternoon the dog isn’t gone, I’ll take it to the shelter myself. Alright, Pete?” Gosh, he hated talking to Peter like this. But the kid should really understand, a dog  was not something you could just pick up from the streets, you had to have thought about it before. It was a life, and therefore, a huge responsibility.

The worst part, however, wasn’t how he spoke to Peter, but the kid’s reaction. Tony was expecting a flare up, angry shouting, even crying. Not resignation. The teen deflated completely, his head looking down. He gave off a sigh.

“Okay, Mr. Stark. I better head home soon. I’ll be late if I don’t. However, please let her stay the night. I really can’t take her to the apartment, our landlord really dislikes dogs.” He looked up at Tony. “I promise I’ll come by tomorrow morning to pick her up, yeah? Please just let her stay.” He begged. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, and before he could say anything else, Pepper spoke for him. 

“It can stay Peter, don’t worry.”

* * *

As soon as Peter left, Pepper and Tony went their separate directions. Tony knew that she most likely disagreed with him, he knew it deep in his soul. She was most likely going to ignore him for a while, or try to reason it out once they were both in bed. While Pepper headed to the living room, Tony went to the workshop. He tinkered to no end, came up with new ideas for possible new suits, both his and Peter’s, and even created a small Dum-E sculpture. While he worked and built, he listened to music as usual, top volume and bass boosted. While he was working on a device to help house his nanobots, a thought struck his mind. 

Where is the puppy right now?

He stopped tinkering and thought about it, then realized he’s an idiot because he has an AI that knows everything that is happening at home.

“Hey, Friday? Where did Pepper put the lil’ mutt?”

“Miss Potts seems to have placed the dog on the balcatio.” She responded, voice as smooth as ever.

Huh, so the balcatio? (When Stark Tower was built, he decided to add a big enough balcony on each floor of the living quarters. Obviously, his was the biggest, which led Pepper  to begin planting several types of flowers and trees, which then covered up the balcony. Tony liked to joke around that she had created a patio on a balcony, which then led to the strange mashed-up word that was ‘balcatio’, a mix of ‘balcony’ and ‘patio’. The balcatio could be accessed from the living room, which was probably the main reason why Peter always entered through there.) 

Apparently, Pepper thought it to be the perfect place for a dog to be in.

Almost automatically, he rose from his chair and began making his way to the balcatio. The dog couldn’t stay there! It could mess up Pepper’s hard work, it could dig up all of the plants! He was about to enter the living room, when he realized. Where would he even leave the dog, if it wasn’t in the balcatio? 

His foot wavered between the living room and the hallway. His mind racing. Where could he set the dog?

With a heavy sigh, he realized what he had to do. 

He began to head back to the workshop, however, instead of taking a turn to the right, where the stairs to enter the room would be, he took a turn to the left, where the bathroom was. He took a quick look, then opened the cabinet under the sink and grabbed a towel. Towel in hand, he then headed towards the living room again. With another heavy sigh, he accepted his fate and asked FRIDAY to open the window for him.

“Are you sure, boss?” 

“Well, it’s not like I have any other options, do I?” He answered back. He knew, deep inside, that yes, he did have other options. However, night made his thought process fuzzy. He wasn’t thinking straight. (Or at least that’s what he told himself.)

As the door opened up a small bit, a small whine could immediately be heard. Tony looked down and observed the small fluff ball looking up at him. They had a staredown (a very intense one, in Tony’s opinion) and finally Tony spoke.

“Listen here, fluffy. I do not want you making a mess in the balcatio, so I’ve decided to bring you with me. This however, does not mean anything. I still despise you, and you will not be staying any further than tomorrow. Am I clear, puppy?” Tony realized a bit too late that he was talking to a dog. 

So this is what craziness felt like.

He bent down and (very carefully) grabbed the pup, with the towel covering his hands. He fixed the towel so that it was covering all of the dog’s body, and then proceeded to pick up the puppy. He took a quick look at the balcatio and noticed that nothing seemed to be dug up or dirty. He eyed the furball in his hands. 

‘It was probably because it was asleep’ He reasoned. ‘Dogs sleep during the night too, so it’s normal that it hasn’t done any mess right now.’

Therefore, if he wanted to avoid any messes in the workshop (he needed to keep an eye on the dog!) he had to make sure the puppy stayed asleep. So, he made a sacrifice. 

“FRIDAY, turn off the lab’s music.” He grumbled. It was a normal occurrence for Tony to be locked in his workshop, with the only indicator of his survival being the constant, blaring music. He can’t remember a time where he was inside a silent workshop.

Once he arrived, he set the towel in a corner, set the pup next to it, and went straight to continue working. However, his thoughts were interrupted by something touching his ankle. At first, he shrugged it off, choosing not to bother. 3 seconds later, however, he remembered there was a dog in the same room as him. He prayed to Thor, Odin, and Loki that it wasn’t what he was thinking, but as he took a look under his desk, his worst fears were confirmed:

The dog had abandoned its towel and instead decided to nap right next to Tony’s foot. 

“I’m sorry God, I truly have been an asshole. However, I think this is a bit much. Please rid me of this curse.” He dramatically said under his breath. He stood up, and the pup seemed to have sensed it, as it groggily blinked, stretched, yawned, and stood up next to him. Their eyes met, again. The puppy began wagging its tail.

Tony sighed and walked over to the towel. The dog, seeming to understand, walked over, too, and sat down on the fabric. Tony waited by its side, and as soon as he saw the dog lay down, he went back to his desk. 

The pup stood up and followed him, too. Tony sighed and tried to push it away with his foot. (He was obviously wearing socks.)

The puppy seemed to find this entertaining, and so it pushed itself against the genius’s foot, rubbing itself all over the fabric. A little voice inside Tony’s head spoke up, saying how all of the creature’s hair was getting on the man, the floor, and was therefore being messy. Tony decided to ignore it. 

Somehow, the dog had found just the perfect position so that instead of pushing it away, Tony was petting it. 

With his foot.

His body seemed to come to the realization faster than his mind did, as he immediately stood up. He took a quick look at his watch. 3:08 AM. Shit, he had an agreement with  Pepper that he wouldn’t enter the bedroom if it was later than 3:00AM. Although it sounded a bit mean, it did wonders, ‘cause Tony would keep special track of time and make sure to exit the workshop on time. 

He sighed and headed towards the living room, its sofa was the best thing to sleep in. It wasn’t until he was laying down on the sofa that he remembered the cause of him missing bedtime. Quickly, he stood up and lo and behold, sitting in front of the sofa was the cursed dog, head tilted and looking straight at Tony.

Tony considered his options. Stand up, pick up the dog, and leave it on the barcatio? Stand up, go to the workshop, pick the towel and bring it back to the living room for the pup to sleep in? He hated himself for not agreeing with Pepper to put a carpet under the sofas and center table. This whole dilemma could have been avoided if he just had a carpet.

He groaned onto one of the cushions. With a last defeated sigh, he psst-psst’d the dog to make it come closer, took it in his arms, and closed his eyes as he felt the pup cuddle next to him, putting its head on top of his armpit, leaving its snout right in front of Tony’s face. He could actually feel the air exhaled by the dog. Somehow, it was relaxing him to no end. Still, Tony made a mental note to buy a carpet sometime soon.

(He was never going to buy one, let’s all be honest with ourselves)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellOOOOooOOoOo everyone!!!! it is me!!!! again!!!!! who else would it be??? ahaha  
> does anyone even read the author's notes?  
> anyways, leave some kudos and some comments!! please!! i love y'all guys, thanks for reading <3  
> (i love comments, please leave some comments:)

**Author's Note:**

> hehe!! so? what do y'all think? yay? nay? heh.  
> i've always loved social media fics and i think there aren't enough out there, so yeah!! here's my lil grain of sand. i promise the dog and the social media parts will appear soon, don't worry.  
> pls comment and leave some kudos or i'll cry myself to sleep.


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